Dr. Dev's Definitive King Arthur List
Feb 10 '03 (Updated Jul 11 '04)
The Bottom Line I bet the sword Excalibur could smite the bottom line quite nicely!
I had originally wrote a top ten period fantasy list, and realized that was too broad and left out many greats in the genre..soooo.. my solution then is to do separate lists. This one for films dealing with King Arthur/Camelot.. then I'll do another for Musketeer tales, dragon movies...and who knows where we'll go after that!
Now, in case you are not familiar with King Arthur, he is that young lad that became King by either a) pulling the sword excalibur out of a stone when nobody else could or b)was handed the sword by a watery tart called the Lady of the Lake...depending upon which version you happen to be reading or watching. Arthur builds a fantastic realm called Camelot where all is peacefull and peachy-keen until Sir Lancelot turns up and steals the heart of Arthur's woman. This legend originally sprang from a book called Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory.
So here, for your amusement, and likely chastisement, is my top ten favorite King Arthur movies, in dubious order:
1) Monty Python and the Holy Grail - NO list is complete without this movie. Monty Python outdo themselves with this comedic romp thru the medieval countryside, a bit of a parody of Excalibur.
This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who
2) Excalibur - The absolute best version the classic King Arthur tale. Not only is it a good one in it's own right, but you will get to see the first movie roles of many big names today such as Liam Neesam and Patrick Stewart. Add Gabriel Byrn to the mix in his sexiest role ever and well.. how could ya go wrong?
3) Camelot - Winner of numerous awards, this musical is really the best of the bunch (So now there are 2 bests..) Many of the musical numbers by Lehrner & Lowe are very fun and upbeat. This runs 197 minutes long, but it's so damn good you'll find yourself wishing it was even longer. Do get the DVD version as it has some very good extra features.
4) Army of Darkness - Yes yes, it's the third in a horror trilogy..but it does have an Arthur and his presence is intended to be a salute to Excalibur. Ash finds himself transported back to the time of knights and magic. Do watch Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 first so ya know what's goin on here though..
5) First Knight - Richard Gere as Sir Lancelot in the tale of Camelot and King Arthur (played by Sean Connery). It just doesn't get much better than Connery and Gere together! Toss in Julia Ormond as Guinevere and you can have nothing less than a great movie
6) Mists of Avalon - This is the movie version of Marion Zimmer Bradley's book on the King Arthur legend, as told from the women's perspective. Originally a TV mini-series, it adapted well to DVD.
7) Knights of the Round Table (1953) - This is a great classic version of the King Arthur tale starring Mel Ferrer, Ava Gardner, with Robert Taylor in the title role.
8) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949) - Review by BrianKoller. A musical with Bing Crosby based on the original Twain book about a guy who wakes up one day in Camelot. I like this one a great deal in spite of ol' Bing. Very funny movie, not as good as the book mind you, but then what ever is?
9) Merlin - Miss Talia again, gads I've been lazy! I really have quite a few reviews I need to write, don't I? Sam Neill and Martin Short in the Arthurian legend from the viewpoint of Merlin the Magician.
10) Quest for Camelot - Once again, I present to you a review by Naphtalia, who did not like it as much as me. LOL This is the Disney animated version of the tale, and I enjoy it immensely! Features the voices of Cary Elwes, Gabriel Byrne, and Peirce Brosnan to name a few. I'm sure my own review will folllow shortly on this one.
Honorable Mention
King Arthur 2004
So there ya have it. Now, This time I scoured Google for titles to make sure I did not miss something...so I'm quite sure I did, in fact, miss something. Too late! I'm moving on to the list for Musketeer movies now...
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Member: Lori Leidig
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